Wardon
The Barony of Wardon is the largest individual barony in Westridge, though sparsely populated thanks to the arid and difficult land. Most of the soil is compacted clay and rock, providing little area for anyone to farm delicate crops. Despite this, the people make a good and proud life here, and Wardon remains an important part of Wanduke nonetheless. It is ruled by House Hicks. Danetown is a location lacking in interest and color on first glance. This otherwise unimaginative locale is in fact quite important in terms of its role in the weapons production for the Duchy of Westridge. While they may import almost all the raw materials and tools required to produce weapons such as halberds and swords, the master craftsmen that reside in Danetown are an invaluable resource to the County of Wanduke and Westridge as a whole. Aside from this industry, Danetown is as first impressioned, a boring place. Old wooden buildings of seemingly poor design rather surprisingly still stand to this day. It is in fact a wonder that half of Danetown hasn’t fallen over already, or burnt down with all the forges around. What few interesting homes and buildings exist typically reside in the hands of wealthier merchant families. The peculiar and nearly unintelligible accent exhibited by Danetown residents is considered a sign of fine upbringing to those of the Wards. To the rest of Westridge, it’s more of an irritating drawl. The Tower of Argant is something of a local assumption, considering all of it is laying on the ground now. Local legend suggests that the tower was once a great tower of skyscraping design built by the Arathorians. There are certainly enough stone blocks on the ground to build a tower far taller than any others in Westridge, though most scholars agree the Arathorians were not capable of raising a tower of that height. Instead, it is more likely that a tower surrounded by lesser towers stood where the ruins now lay. Nevertheless it has not stopped local citizens from speculating this was a tower designed by ancient architectural geniuses. Since the rest of Wardon consists of thatch huts, this isn’t entirely unexpected from them. The Wards, named so for their administrative delineation, represent a wide swath of rural land and comprise the majority of Wardon’s territory. The East Ward and West Ward are defined by and named after their relative position to Danetown. In both wards, the empty and arid stretches of land are punctuated only by ramshackle hamlets and villages all within eyesight of each other. Residents of either ward tend to be unrefined and uneducated, though they supply the vast majority of feudal levies to Wanduke. People of The Wards are aggressive, xenophobic, and fanatically loyal to their home. Harboring a passionate hatred for southern Mirwood folk, these hardy but simple peasants are well trained and highly disciplined once rounded up and put in uniform. Aside from feudal service, the general population of Wardon live a hard life. Subsistence farming, feuds between villages, and less than appropriate family trees are something of a hallmark for the wards.Category:Lore Category:Westridge Category:Holdings